So this is kinda neat – the State University of New York at Buffalo chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (who even knew there was such a student organization, with chapters at a couple dozen universities around the nation, including Cornell?) is putting on a conference, SpaceVision 2012, this week, all about various aspects of the nascent space industry. That means talks by such folks as the director of the NASA Kennedy Space Center, the FAA’s associate administrator of commercial space transportation, and the director of business development at the Mojave Air and Space Port; presentations about when we can expect suborbital vehicles to begin commercial runs; and information on the state of commercial launch services now that the U.S. space shuttle fleet has been retired. The event runs Nov. 8-11 at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center in downtown Buffalo. Attendance is $60.

Diana Louise Carter was born at Rochester General Hospital the same year it opened and reared in Bristol, Ontario County. After college and grad school, her first reporting job was on a small newspaper in Western Massachusetts. She returned to Rochester in late 1987 to work for the Democrat and Chronicle. Carter covers agriculture and banking. She lives in the Upper Monroe neighborhood of Rochester with her husband and three children.

Matthew Daneman is a business reporter with the Democrat and Chronicle, covering imaging, optics, printing, telecommunications, manufacturing and a host of other topics. He lives in Rochester with his wife, Sheila. If he could have authentic western N.Y. chicken wings morning, noon and night, he would.

Tom Tobin has 30 years experience with Gannett newspapers as an editor and reporter. He lives in Rochester and has two children: Lia, 16, and Melissa, 11.